Colombo: A Sri Lankan court has ordered a state-run newspaper to publish the summons on Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, directing him to appear before it after the company earlier refused to print the advertisement.

The order was given by the court of appeal on July 10 to the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. Five months ago, the court ordered Prabhakaran, a fugitive at home and abroad, to present himself for a hearing on May 19 over the Norwegian backed ceasefire agreement he signed with Colombo in February 2002.

The court, which is hearing a challenge to the ceasefire agreement by the Opposition Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), or People's Liberation Front (PLF), and two other Singhalese nationalistic parties, ordered Prabhakaran to turn up at court on May 19.

The case is now put off till August 8.

The JVP and the two other parties argue that the truce is not valid because Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe signed the pact with Prabhakaran, 48, who at the time represented a banned organisation.

The premier himself is the first respondent in the case, while the state attorney general has also been cited as a party to the court action aimed at obtaining a ruling on the validity of the truce.

A three-judge Bench headed by president of the court of appeal, Shirani Thilakawardena, ordered that Prabhakaran's summons be published in newspapers because the government's writ does not apply in areas held by the rebels.

PTI